I have always been an advocate for DIY CO2. I like the fact that I can stock up my CO2 ingredients and make CO2 immediately.
There are a lot of people still with the old perception that DIY CO2 is for the amateurs. They still have the idea that DIY CO2 is in soda soft drinks bottles. Today, DIY CO2 can give you the same high pressure you would get from a pressurised tank.
Well, enough said. Pictures speak for themselves.
75 Gallon “Jungle”
This has got to be a tough one for DIY CO2 users. 75 gallons is a lot of water to inject CO2 with.
Before I was running CO2 244/7, I used to run 4~6 bps using a CO2 reactor. Then I experimented with running 24/7 fine mist atomizer (similar to the NIlocG Aquatics Atomic Precision Co2 Atomizer) and a reduced light intensity.
Tank Setup
Filters: 1x Fluval 306, 1x Fluval C2
Lighting: Fluval AquaSky LED
Air pump: Aquael
Substrate: ADA Amazonia
CO2: DIY CO2 with High Pressure Canister
CO2 Injection Rate: 2 bps 24 hours non-stop
CO2 Diffusion methods: Intense Bazooka Atomizer 70mm
Dosing regime: Custom Seachem Dosing Regime
Ferts: Seachem Flourish Nitrogen/Potassium/Phosphorous/Iron/Comprehensive
I run an additional HOB filter as solely mechanical filtration. I find that the polishing pad in the 306 gets clogged within a month, and thus reducing the maintenance cycle to 1 month instead of 2 or 3 months.
So I added a HOB just for pure mechanical filtration. In it I run with the regular sponge, polishing pad, and Purigen. The Fluval C series HOB is really easy to clean. Most of the time I only need to rinse the polishing pad. Rinsing the sponge is a 1 minute job.
Having a HOB also helps to create surface agitation and add oxygenated water to the tank. And it doesn’t cost much to add one to a large tank.
24 Gallon Nature Cube
Tank Setup
Filters: 1x Fluval 206
Lighting: Chihiros A-Series
Air pump: Generic
Substrate: Tropica Aquarium Soil
CO2: DIY CO2 with High Pressure Canister
CO2 Injection Rate: 0.5 bps 24 hours non-stop
CO2 Diffusion methods: Intense Bazooka Atomizer 50mm
Dosing regime: Custom Seachem Dosing Regime
Ferts: Seachem Flourish Nitrogen/Potassium/Phosphorous/Iron/Comprehensive
I have re-scaped this tank a few times. It was a disaster initially when my wife insisted on having Goldfishes in it. Then I had a nicely planted HC hills scape which suffered a major BGA outbreaks. And finally the above is its current state.
11 Gallon Iwagumi
This is a difficult tank from the beginning. It is a low profile tank. A lower profile means there is very little depth for the CO2 bubbles to interact with the water before reaching the surface.
Tank Setup
Filters: 1x Fluval C3 HOB
Lighting: Aquael Slim LEDDY (Chihiros A-Series later on)
Air pump: Generic
Substrate: ADA Amazonia
CO2: DIY CO2 with High Pressure Canister
CO2 Injection Rate: 0.5 bps 24 hours non-stop
CO2 Diffusion methods: Intense Bazooka Atomizer 40mm
Dosing regime: Custom Seachem Dosing Regime
Ferts: Seachem Flourish Nitrogen/Potassium/Phosphorous/Iron/Comprehensive
Being low profile also means the light intensity is very high. High lights is an algae magnet. The only way to compensate is to blasts your CO2.
Rescape Process
I get a lot of people asking me how do you rescape when you still have fishes in them, or how long will it take.
Well, before you start pulling out your plants, please PLAN ahead. What kind of theme do you want? Work from there once you have a theme in mind. With a theme you can then select the hardscape and plants and driftwoods.
Purchase all your items except plants first. Only purchase the plant when you know you will be free to start work! You do not want your plant to have no where to go while they wait for you to be free to begin work!
More details on the rescape will be coming soon…
16 Gallon Nature
This tank is for my office. It is still work in progress.
